Container assembly

ABSTRACT

A container assembly includes a cover and a base that form a cavity in a closed configuration. The container assembly comprises a latch assembly that secures the cover to the base in a substantially closed configuration, and an opening that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the container assembly, wherein the opening is provided in the base, and wherein the cover comprises a latch catch that receives a portion of the latch assembly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/627,511, filed on Nov. 30, 2009, the disclosure of which is expresslyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates to a multi-purpose container assembly forsecurely holding and protecting items.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Many types of container assemblies are known and used for variouspurposes. These container assemblies are frequently formed of separatebody parts that are configured to mate and cooperate to allow theassemblies to open and close when the assemblies are assembled intofinished products. Some of the container assemblies include one or morehandles, so that the container assemblies may be easily carried by hand.

However, many of these container assemblies are inadequate in protectingitems from damage, tampering, theft, or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a container assembly isprovided that comprises: a cover that includes a cover perimeter; a basethat includes a base perimeter, which is configured to mate with thecover perimeter to form a cavity; a front latch assembly that secures afirst portion of the cover to a first portion of the base; a left latchassembly that secures a second portion of the cover to a second portionof the base; a right latch assembly that secures a third portion of thecover to a third portion of the base; a first valve assembly thatequalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base; a secondvalve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outsidethe base; and a hinge assembly that pivotally couples the cover to thebase. The container assembly may further comprise a seal and/or insert.The base may comprise an opening that equalizes pressure between thecavity and outside the base. The cover may comprise a channel. The coverperimeter may comprise a channel that is configured to receive a seal.The front latch assembly, left latch assembly and right latch assemblymall be substantially the same, or different. The front latch assemblymay comprise: an upper latch portion that engages the first portion ofthe cover; and a lower latch portion that moves to engage or disengagethe upper latch portion. The container assembly may further comprise athird valve assembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity andoutside the base, wherein the lower latch portion comprises the thirdvalve assembly. The cover and base may both (or either) comprise apolycarbonate material.

According to a further aspect of the disclosure, a container assembly isprovided that has a cavity formed by a cover and a base. The containerassembly comprises: a latch assembly that secures the cover to the basein a substantially closed configuration; and a valve assembly thatequalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the containerassembly, wherein the latch assembly comprises an upper latch grip, andwherein the cover comprises a latch catch that is configured to receivethe upper latch grip. The latch assembly may further comprise: an upperlatch portion that engages the first portion of the cover; and a lowerlatch portion that moves to engage or disengage the upper latch portion,wherein the upper latch portion is configured to pivot about a firstaxis, and wherein the lower latch portion is configured to pivot about asecond axis. The container assembly may further comprise: a second valveassembly that equalizes pressure between the cavity and outside thebase; and/or a third valve assembly that equalizes pressure between thecavity and outside the base. The base may comprise an opening thatequalizes pressure between the cavity and outside the base. The covermay comprise a channel and the cover perimeter may comprise a channelthat is configured to receive a seal. The container assembly may furthercomprise a seal. The first axis and second axis may be substantiallyparallel. The latch assembly may comprise: an upper latch portion thatengages the first portion of the cover; and a lower latch portion thatmoves to engage or disengage the upper latch portion. The lower latchportion may comprise a second valve assembly that equalizes pressurebetween the cavity and outside the base. The cover and base may both (oreither) comprise a polycarbonate material. The container assembly mayfurther comprise an insert. The valve assembly may be integrally formedwith the latch assembly. The latch assembly may comprise: a rib; and areinforcement section.

According to a still further aspect of the disclosure, a containerassembly is provided that has a cover and a base that form a cavity in aclosed configuration. The container assembly comprises: a latch assemblythat secures the cover to the base in a substantially closedconfiguration; and an opening that equalizes pressure between the cavityand outside the container assembly, wherein the opening is provided inthe base, and wherein the cover comprises a latch catch that receives aportion of the latch assembly.

Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the disclosure maybe set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detaileddescription and drawings. Moreover, it is noted that both the foregoingsummary of the disclosure and the following detailed description areexemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limitingthe scope of the disclosure as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure andtogether with the detailed description serve to explain the principlesof the disclosure. No attempt is made to show structural details of thedisclosure in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamentalunderstanding of the disclosure and the various ways in which it may bepracticed.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a container assembly,according to principles of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a partial, enlarged perspective view of the left portion ofthe container assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a front side view of the container assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section view of the container assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of a latch assembly that may be used inthe container assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows a top view of the container assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a further cross-section view of the container assembly ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 8 shows a right side view of the container assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 shows a bottom view of the container assembly of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 10 shows an exploded view of the latch assembly that may be used inthe container assembly of FIG. 1.

The present disclosure is further described in the detailed descriptionthat follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The embodiments of the disclosure and the various features andadvantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference tothe non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/orillustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the followingdescription. It should be noted that the features illustrated in thedrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of oneembodiment may be employed with other embodiments as the skilled artisanwould recognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions ofwell-known components and processing techniques may be omitted, so as tonot unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the disclosure. Theexamples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understandingof ways in which the disclosure may be practiced and to further enablethose of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the disclosure.Accordingly, the examples and embodiments herein should not be construedas limiting the scope of the disclosure, which is defined solely by theappended claims and applicable law. Moreover, it is noted that likereference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several viewsof the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a container assembly 1,according to principles of the disclosure. The container assembly 1includes a cover 100, a base 200, a handle assembly 300, a left latchassembly 400, a right latch assembly 500, a front latch assembly 600 anda hinge assembly 700. The cover 100 and base 200 are configured to matetogether to form a body that forms an internal cavity 10. Each of thecover 100, base 200, handle assembly 300, left latch assembly 400, rightlatch assembly 500, front latch assembly 600 and hinge assembly 700 areconfigured to provide a tight and secure mating of the cover 100 to thebase 200 in the closed configuration (shown in FIG. 1) to prevent itemsplaced in the container assembly 1 from being affected byexternal-ambient conditions, damaged, tampered with, stolen, or thelike. The container assembly 1 may be configured to provide a hermeticseal, thereby preventing gases (e.g., air, or the like) or liquids(e.g., water, or the like) from entering or exiting a cavity of thecontainer assembly 1. Some or all of the components, including the cover100, the base 200, the handle assembly 300, the left latch assembly 400,the right latch assembly 500, the front latch assembly 600 or the hingeassembly 700 may be made from, e.g., polycarbonates, or the like, whichmay be easily worked, molded and thermoformed to provide temperatureresistance, impact resistance, and the like, of the container assembly1.

Although shown in FIG. 1 as comprising three latch assemblies 400, 500,600, it is noted that the container assembly 1 may include any number oflatch assemblies provided on any one or more sides of the containerassembly 1, to secure the cover 100 to the base 200. For example, thecontainer assembly 1 may include a single latch assembly 400 (500/600)provided on the left, front or right side of the container assembly 1.Further, the container assembly 1 may include two or more latchassemblies 400 (500/600) on the left, front or right side of thecontainer assembly. Still further, the container assembly 1 may includemultiple latch assemblies 400 (500/600) on one or more of the left,front or right sides of the container assembly 1.

Additionally, the cover 100 and base 200 may include an insulatingmaterial that minimizes, e.g., the transfer of energy, such as, e.g.,heat, infrared signals, sound signals, vibration, impact, radiofrequency (RF) signals, or the like. The insulating material maywithstand pressure variations between the pressure inside the cavity ofthe container assembly 1 and the pressure outside the container assembly1. Further, the insulating material may be configured to absorbsignificant shock due to, e.g., the container assembly 1 being droppedor thrown on to a hard surface. Each of the cover 100, base 200, handleassembly 300, left latch assembly 400, right latch assembly 500, frontlatch assembly 600 and hinge assembly 700 may be configured to withstandambient conditions, such as, e.g., rain, ice, fire, or the like.

As seen in FIG. 1, the cover 100 may include a plurality of reinforcingchannels 110, a plurality of latch catches 120, and a cover perimeter130. The channels 110 are configured to provide additional rigidity andstrength to the cover 100. The plurality of latch catches 120 are eachconfigured to receive a respective left upper latch grip 412 (shown inFIG. 7), a right upper latch grip 512 (shown in FIG. 7) and a frontupper latch grip 612 (shown in FIG. 4), to securely mate the cover 100to the base 200. The cover perimeter 130 is configured to properly matewith a base perimeter 230 to provide a tight seal between the cover 100and base 200. The cover perimeter 130 and base perimeter may eachinclude one or more openings 135, 235, respectively, to receive a lockmechanism, such as, e.g., a padlock, to secure the cover 100 and base200 in the closed configuration, shown in FIG. 1. The one or more coverperimeter openings 135 and base perimeter openings 235 may be providedon the front of the container assembly 1, as shown in FIG. 1, and/or thesides of the container assembly 1 (not shown).

The left latch assembly 400 may include a left upper latch portion 410,one or more ribs 420, one or more reinforcement sections 430, a valveassembly 440 and a lower latch portion 450. The valve assembly 440, orparts thereof, may be integrally formed with the lower latch portion450. Further, the valve assembly 440 may be manipulated to permitingress or egress of pressure through an opening (not shown) to thecavity 10 to equalize pressure between the cavity 10 and the pressureoutside the base 200 or container assembly 1. The valve assembly 440 maybe configured to permit passage of air, while substantially preventing(or minimizing) the passage of moisture.

The left upper latch portion 410 may include one or more receivers 411for receiving one or more respective lower engaging pins 451 topivotally fasten the left upper latch portion 410 to the left lowerlatch portion 450 (e.g., as shown in FIG. 3). The left lower latchportion 450 may include an upper engaging pin 452 (shown in FIG. 7), ahand grip 455 and a spacer 457. The upper engaging pin 452 is configuredto pivotally fasten an upper part of the left lower latch portion 450 tothe base 200. The hand grip 455 is configured to be grasped by a humanhand and pulled away from the container assembly 1 to release the latchassembly 400, or pushed toward the front of the container assembly 1 toengage the latch assembly 400 (shown in FIG. 3). In this regard, as thehand grip 455 is pulled away from the container assembly 1, the upperpart of the lower latch portion 450 pivots about the longitudinal axisof the upper engaging pin 452, releasing the upper latch grip 412 (shownin FIG. 7). The upper latch grip 412 may then be pulled away from thecover 100, causing the upper latch portion to 410 to pivot about thelongitudinal axis of the lower engaging pin 451. The spacer 457 isconfigured to press against the surface of the base 200, when the handgrip 455 is pushed toward the front of the container assembly 1 toengage the latch assembly 400, and position the front lower latchportion 450 in a predetermined position (e.g., shown in FIG. 3). Thespacer 457 may include, or be configured as a spring mechanism, which,when compressed between the lower latch portion 450 and a wall of thebase 200, retains potential energy, such that when the hand grip 455 ispulled away from the container assembly 1, the spring mechanism willrelease the potential energy and assist in releasing the latch assembly400.

To secure the cover 100 to the base 200, the upper latch portion 410 maybe pivoted about the longitudinal axis of the lower engaging pin 451 andthe upper latch grip 412 placed on or near the left latch catch 120.Then, the handle grip 455 may be pushed toward the base 200, causing thelower latch portion 450 to pivot about the longitudinal axis of theupper engaging pin 452 and secure the cover 100 to the base 200.

It is noted that, instead of (or in addition to) the valve assembly 440,a lock mechanism may be included to secure the latch assembly 400 in alocked configuration (e.g., shown in FIG. 1).

The right latch assembly 500 and/or front latch assembly 600 may includesubstantially the same structures, as seen in the drawings.

The handle assembly 300 may include a handle 320, which may be pivotallycoupled to one or more handle supports 240 by means of, e.g., a handlefastener 340 (e.g., a pin, or the like). The one or more handle supports240 may be affixed to the base 200 by means of, e.g., bolts, screws,nuts, rivets, or the like, or integrally formed with the base 200.

FIG. 2 shows a partial, enlarged perspective view of the left portion ofthe container assembly 1.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the container assembly 1, including areference plane G-G.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section view of the container assembly 1, cut alongthe plane G-G shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 also shows a cross-section view ofthe front latch assembly 600 and hinge assembly 700.

As seen in FIG. 4, the container assembly 1 includes a cavity 10, whichis formed by the cover 100 and base 200 in the closed configuration. Thecontainer assembly 1 may include an insert 20 that is inserted into thebase 200. The insert 20 may be molded as a liner that fits snuggly inthe base 200 and/or cover 100. The insert 20 may include a material,such as, e.g., a memory foam (e.g., having a density about 7 lbs/ft³), apolyurethane foam, a polyester foam, or the like. The insert 20 mayinclude one section (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4), or a plurality ofsections. The insert 20 may be configured to be removable from the base200 (or cover 100).

The cover perimeter 130 includes a channel along its entire (or partial)length to receive a seal 140. The seal 140 may be formed of a flexiblematerial such as, e.g., silicone, rubber, or the like, to form a tightseal between the cover 100 and base 200 in the closed configuration.

As noted earlier, the latch assembly 600 may have substantially the samestructure as the latch assemblies 400, 500. The latch assembly 600includes a front upper latch portion 610 (410, 510, shown in FIG. 7) anda front lower latch portion 650 (450, 550, shown in FIG. 7). The latchassembly 600 may further include a valve assembly 640 (shown in FIG. 3)(440, shown in FIG. 1; 540, shown in FIG. 8), which may include, e.g., apurge valve 646 (shown in FIG. 10). The valve assembly 640 may bemanipulated to equalize pressure between the cavity 10 and the outsideof the container assembly 1 by means of an opening 645 in the base 200.The front upper latch portion 610 may be pivotally coupled to the frontlower latch portion 650 by means of, e.g., a pair of lower engaging pins651R, 651L (shown in FIG. 10). The front lower latch portion 650 may becoupled to the base 200 by means of an upper engaging pin 652 (shown inFIG. 10). The front lower latch portion 650 is configured to pivot aboutthe longitudinal axis (e.g., the z-axis) of the upper engaging pin 652during engaging or disengaging of the latch assembly 600.

FIG. 10 shows an exploded view of an example of the latch assembly 600(or 400, or 500), according to principles of the disclosure.

As seen, e.g., in FIGS. 4 and 10, the front upper latch portion 610includes the front upper latch grip 612, which is configured to engagethe front latch catch 120 of the cover 110. The front lower latchportion 650 includes a hand grip 655 that is configured to be grasped bya human hand and pulled away from the container assembly 1 to releasethe latch assembly 600, or pushed toward the front of the containerassembly 1 to engage the latch assembly 600 (shown in FIG. 4). The frontlower latch portion 650 may further include a spacer 657 (457, 557,shown in FIG. 7) that is configured to rest against the surface of awall of the base 200. The spacer 657 may be configured to absorb andretain potential energy when it is pressed and held against the wall ofthe base 200, which, when released, will cause the spacer 657 to pushthe handle grip 655 away from the front of the container assembly 1,thereby assisting the user when disengaging the front latch assembly600. In this regard, the spacer 657 may be made from a flexible,resilient material, such as, e.g., plastic, metal, or the like.

The hinge assembly 700 may include an upper hinge portion 710 and alower hinge portion 720. The upper and lower hinge portions 710, 720 maybe coupled to each other by means of, e.g., a pin 730. The upper hingeportion 710 and lower hinge portion 720 are configured to rotate aboutthe longitudinal axis (e.g., the z-axis) of the pin 730, as the cover100 (or base 200) is opened or closed. The upper hinge portion 710 maybe affixed to, or integrally formed with the cover 100. The lower hingeportion 720 may be affixed to, or integrally formed with the base 200.

As seen in FIG. 4, the base 200 may include one or more supports 250.The supports 250 are configured to support the container assembly 1,when the container assembly 1 is placed on, e.g., a floor surface (notshown). The supports 250 may be affixed to, or integrally formed withthe base 200. Together with the hinge assembly 700, the supports 250 areconfigured to provide additional rigidity and strength to the containerassembly 1. The base 200 may further include a plurality of legs 260.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the latch assembly 600 (or latchassemblies 400 or 500).

FIG. 6 shows a top view of the container assembly 1, including areference plane H-H.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-section view of the container assembly 1, cut alongthe plane H-H shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 also shows a cross-section view ofthe front latch assemblies 400, 500.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show different views of the container assembly 1. Inparticular, FIG. 8 shows a right side view of the container assembly 1;and FIG. 9 shows a bottom view of the container assembly 1.

It is noted that each of the components of the container assembly 1 maybe configured to withstand ambient conditions, such as, e.g., rain, ice,fire, or the like. The components may include, e.g., any one or more ofthe following materials: plastic, rubber, metal, glass, carbon fiber,fiberglass, and the like, without limitation.

While the disclosure has been described in terms of exemplaryembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosuremay be practiced with modifications in the spirit and scope of theappended claims. These examples given above are merely illustrative andare not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible designs,embodiments, applications or modifications of the disclosure.

1. A container arranged to form an enclosed space comprising: a coverthat comprises a cover perimeter; a base that comprises a base perimeterwhich is configured to mate with the cover perimeter to form theenclosed space; at least one latch assembly that secures the cover tothe base; the at least one latch assembly comprising a first latchportion that engages at least one of the cover and the base; and the atleast one latch assembly further comprising a second latch portionhaving a first pivot that pivotally connects to the first latch portionand a second pivot that pivotally connects to the other one of the coverand the base.
 2. The container of claim 1 wherein the first pivot andsecond pivot each comprise a pin.
 3. The container of claim 1 whereinthe first latch portion comprises an opening and the second latchportion is at least partially arranged in the opening.
 4. The containerof claim 1 wherein the first latch portion comprises a hook and thesecond latch portion comprises a hand grip portion.
 5. The container ofclaim 1 wherein the cover comprises a channel.
 6. The container of claim1 wherein the cover perimeter comprises a channel that is configured toreceive a seal.
 7. The container of claim 1 wherein the at least onelatch assembly comprises a plurality of latch assemblies and a pluralityof first latch portions and second latch portions.
 8. The container ofclaim 1 wherein the first latch portion engages a first portion of thecover; and the second latch portion is configured to pivot so as toengage or disengage the first latch portion.
 9. The container of claim 1wherein the cover and base comprise a polycarbonate material.
 10. Thecontainer of claim 1, further comprising an insert.
 11. A containerhaving an enclosed space comprising: a cover pivotally connected to abase along a pivot axis and configured so as to allow the cover torotate around the pivot axis with respect to the base; a latch assemblythat secures the cover to the base in a substantially closedconfiguration; the latch assembly comprises an upper latch portion thatengages a portion of the cover with a latch grip and the latch assemblyfurther comprises a lower latch portion pivotally connected to the upperlatch portion and the lower latch portion is configured to be pivotallyconnected to the base; and the latch assembly is configured so that thelower latch portion and the upper latch portion rotate with respect toone another around a predetermined axis to secure the cover to the base.12. The container of claim 11 wherein the lower latch portion and theupper latch portion are connected with a pin so as to rotate withrespect to one another around the predetermined axis.
 13. The containerof claim 11 wherein the lower latch portion is pivotally connected tothe base with a pin.
 14. The container of claim 11 wherein the lowerlatch portion further comprises a hand grip.
 15. The container of claim11 wherein the latch assembly comprises a plurality of latch assembliesand a plurality of upper latch portions and lower latch portions. 16.The container of claim 11 wherein the first latch portion comprises anopening and the second latch portion is at least partially arranged inthe opening.
 17. The container of claim 11 wherein the cover perimetercomprises a channel that is configured to receive a seal.
 18. Thecontainer of claim 11 wherein the cover and base comprise apolycarbonate material.
 19. The container of claim 11 further comprisingan insert.
 20. The container of claim 11 wherein the latch assemblycomprises: a rib; and a reinforcement section.